Every Other Freckle
by jmreader123
Summary: My take on the events leading up to Erin Lindsay's departure from the unit and what happens afterwards. Heavy Voight/Lindsay but ultimately LINSTEAD. Set around the finale.
1. Chapter 1

Hank Voight walked out of the bar. He turned his back with sadness and left. He left Erin there with her pain and misery. He felt an enormous amount of guilt and shame. But if anyone knew Erin and the way she spirals; it's Hank. It didn't necessarily make it better or worse, but he knew there was nothing he could say to convince her that she was making a huge mistake. She had to go through her own motions and she had to hit her own rock bottom. As far as Hank was concerned, Erin would have to reach out to him.

But as he got into his car, he wasn't sure that it was even a possibility. But Erin is now a grown adult; she is not the same kid he found all those years back. He didn't know how to approach it—any of it. He did know one thing for sure—he wanted to ring Bunny's neck.

Hank understood the idea of accountability. He knew that Erin was a grown adult making her own bad decisions. He wasn't in any kind of denial of that fact. The problem is that he doesn't know how to pull her out of it. Camille may have been able to add some insight, but Hank quickly told himself he couldn't even go there.

As Hank was sitting in his car outside the bar, he was contemplating going back in and dragging Erin out by her shirt tails. Seriously, he was contemplating doing _just that_. He quickly changed his mind, however, and put the key in the ignition and began to drive away. As he was driving away from the bar, he looked in the rear view mirror just to make sure Erin hadn't followed him outside. He knew she didn't, but he couldn't help but look anyway. As the bar became further and further away, Hank sped up and drove away as fast as he could. He was running from something he tried so hard keeping safe.

Hank pulled into the precinct. He turned the keys, pulled them out of the ignition and threw them against the dashboard as hard as he could while yelling out a harsh " **DAMNIT**." It's the only relief he was able to get since he saw Erin. He gripped the steering wheel tight and had this vacant look in his eyes. He wasn't really sure what to do. He knew he had to go back upstairs and remain cool, but he just didn't know how he was going to muster up the courage to do just that. He took a few deep breathes, retrieved his keys from the floor, and opened the car door to exit.

* * *

"Hey, Hank—some woman called while you were out… a Nancy Kirwick? She said she has some information on the suspect in the drug bust." Trudy Platt yelled from afar as she was signing some papers.

Hank stopped in his tracks because he has no idea what Platt was talking about. Five seconds later, he snapped back to reality and began walking closer to Platt's desk.

"Thanks, Sarg. I'll take that." he said under his breath as he grabbed the piece of paper with the scribbled name and number, slapped his hand on the desk out of appreciation, and then walked toward the stairs to the bullpen.

Hank keept his head down while he walked to his office upstairs because he didn't want to make eye contact with anyone else from the team. He made it to his office—unscathed by any questions—and closed the door right behind him. He sat in his chair and put both elbows on his desk and began rubbing his temples, trying to get rid of the stress that is attempting to consume him. Not a few seconds go by when he heard on knock on the door.

"Come on in," Hank said and he gestured Al to come in.

"Hey. I may have a CI that can help us on this case," Alvin said monotone. "She's an old friend, and it's a long shot, but we have no other leads on this case. Jay seems distracted, I'm pretty sure Ruzek just proposed to Burgess and Dawson is out. What's going on up here today?" he questioned half serious as he takes a seat, noticing the stress leaking out of Voight's veins.

"I don't know. Burgess and Ruzek? Engaged? I thought I was okaying an in house romance not playing matchmaker to a future married couple. Halstead is still here? I thought he left. Can you bring him in for me?" Hank replied dryly.

Al, confused and aware that there was definitely something going on, got up and opened the door. "Halstead! Get in here," he called. He looked back at Voight and asekd, "Want some privacy?"

"No you need to hear this too," he said as Jay approached his office and shut the door.

"What's up, boss?" Halstead asked with a bit of concern on his face.

"Listen I need you to double down on the work. We are down one person and we need to crack this drug bust or the commander is going to be up here wondering what the hell we are doing," Hank said with seriousness and a bit of annoyance. He looked at Al and then again at Jay. "Focus, you hear me? Do you have my attention?"

Jay looked at Olinksy with suspicion then back at Voight. "You have my attention, boss. What do you need me to do? I can't find any leads on this case," he said with frustration.

"Find leads. Anyone. Contact your CIs and bring me some new information by tomorrow." Hanks said as he positions his hand to tell Jay to beat it while putting his hand up at Olinksy to stay. "Oh and Halstead, you got this, I know you do."

Jay nodded, "I got this."

Jay looked at Al and Hank again with more suspicion but knew that he couldn't argue his boss's demands. So for now, he let the weirdness in the air remain as he left the office, shutting the door behind him leaving Al and Hank alone in the office.

"Halstead I get," Al began, "but it's me—what's up, Hank?" Al can clearly see the distress on Hank.

"Erin quit. She handed me her badge and gun this morning, half tipsy, and then finished off a beer." Hank replied very flatly.

After several seconds of silence, Al spoke up, "It's Erin. She'll be back. You know, she's uh, dealing with some stuff. I don't think she meant that." Al wasn't trying to comfort Hank, he was trying to convince him, and himself, that it wasn't serious. "Listen, Hank, let's sit on this for a few days before telling anyone. You know how information like this can spiral."

"I know. I don't know how I am going to keep this underway and solve this drug bust all in a day's work," Hank replied with concern.

"Well, you don't have to deal with it on your own—either things. I can help with Erin and you know we are going to get those sons of bitches from the drug bust." Al assured him.

"Al," Hank began, "in all my years as a cop, during all this time in this position, I've never felt such a void. Not since Camille passed, and while yes that was different, I feel like in this moment, I'm not sure how to get through to the next minute."

"I understand, but we will get through all of this together. Give Lindsay the day to sleep if off or whatever and I'm going to go meet up with my CI. I'm also going to call Antonio and get his help. I'll call you from the road." Al came over and squeezed Hank's shoulder before he exited his office.

* * *

I'm pretty new to fanfiction so any comments are welcome, especially constructive ones. So, please, send me suggestions, prompts, or requests.

xx


	2. Chapter 2

This chapter is going to be a couple days before Hank finds Erin in Bunny's bar. So for chapter 2, we are going back in time—baby, ohhh baby, Ohhh baby, my sweet baby, You're the one. Couldn't resist! This will (hopefully) be grammatically correct. I have tense issues. #GrammarProbs #CallMeOut #IWantToLearn

Enjoy. xx

* * *

Hank got into his office around 6:15 that morning. He couldn't sleep the night before—in fact, he hasn't been able to sleep all week. He has spent the last few weeks worried and concerned for Erin. It hasn't affected how he does his job; but the sleepless nights were becoming tiring. Seeing Erin come in so late with big bags under her eyes and bar aroma seeping out of her is becoming tiring. Hank can't stand to see Erin that way. She is slipping, spiraling, and flirting with the rabbit hole and Hank is scared that she isn't going to be able to pull herself out of it. But what scares him even more is that he isn't going to be able to do anything, but that doesn't mean he is giving up on her—he would never just _give up_ on Erin. You don't turn your back on family.

Interrupting his thoughts, Olinsky knocked gently on the door a couple times before he came through to Hank's office. "Morning. What's up?" he asked as he sat down.

Pulling him out of his thoughts, Hank looked at Olinsky and responded, "Morning. Nothing much. Just, uh, thinking."

"About Erin?" Olinsky asked.

"Yep." Hank responded with discouragement. "I don't know what I can do for her. Seeing Bunny last night made me so…. I just don't know."

"Bunny is a tyrant. She had no business coming up here." Al responded, desperately trying to shift the focus off of Erin and onto Bunny. Al knew Hank better than probably anyone else and he knew Hank has been relentlessly blaming himself for what's happened to Erin the past few weeks. It's a sad situation for Al. He has been taking notice to Lindsay for the past few weeks, too. I mean they all work in intelligence for the Chicago PD, it's obvious to everyone on the team that Lindsay is spiraling and it doesn't take a detective to figure out why.

"I oughta run into that disgusting bar she runs and arrest her." Hank said with fury.

"Hank," Al began, "You can't just arrest a woman because she is a bad mother."

"No," Hank retorted, "But I can easily arrest her for other things, and you know it."

Al was never comfortable with getting between Hank and Bunny. Their worlds have collided numerous times in the past and if Al learned anything from what he witnessed; it's a Hank and Bunny war and that's it. He never really understood their dilemmas but he never asked Hank either. It's not that it was necessarily a touchy subject, but Al never bothered to convene between those two because frankly, their problems were out of his league.

After a few silent seconds, Hank spoke up again, "You know how bad I want to contact her? You know, Bunny? Not even that. I want to contact all her friends—all the people she hangs around—and let them know she has a daughter in Intelligence."

Olinsky responded very level headed, "Don't you think that will put Erin at risk? Who knows the kinds of people Bunny is running with nowadays? I don't trust her."

"I don't either! That's what I'm saying" Hank responded, seemingly disturbed.

"What should we do?"

"I don't think there is anything we can do. The fact is Erin is still showing up. She may be half drunk from the night before but she is showing up. I can't keep covering for her, though. "

"Covering? Has downstairs suspected anything?"

"No," Hank sighed then continued, "Trudy confronted her though."

"Yeah? And?"

"She was, for lack of a better word, a bitch to her." Hank said.

Al quickly responded sarcastically, "To Platt, no!"

"Hey, she said she was irritable and seemed off."

"Well, Platt is dealing with her own grief, too, remember."

"No excuse for Erin to act any sort of way."

"We all deal with grief differently, Hank. And we both know this is far bigger than Nadia."

"The grief and guilt she is feeling over that tragedy is going to break her. I'm trying so desperately to stop her spiral, but I can't."

Al listened in silence, burying himself in his own worries. He didn't want to tell Hank about his concern because Hank had plenty of his own. It doesn't change the fact that Al is sad for Erin. He has seen her like this before and he knew how hard it was for Hank and Camille. However, she pulled herself out of the darkness (with the Voight's help, of course.) He knew Erin wasn't purposely trying to rock Hank's world, but he truly believes that she doesn't know how much this is affecting Hank, and himself, and the whole team for that matter. Ruzek approached him about Lindsay a few times in the past week. Sniffing around and asking what's up. His response was always the same, "don't worry about Lindsay, just do your job." It usually shut him up but Ruzek sure knew how to pester him.

* * *

"Two tequila shots with a lime and a Budweiser," Erin stated firmly as she sat down on the bar stool in a bar across town. She wanted to change up her scenery today; it was getting stuffy at Bunny's bar.

"You go it," the bartender replied.

After delivering her the requested order, Erin downed both shots and began to sip on her beer. Looking around she saw that the bar was pretty empty. She looked down at her watch and realized why—it wasn't even noon yet. "Wow, have I gotten that bad?" she thought to herself. "Oh well." She began gulping down her Budweiser when she heard the bar door open. Standing there was one of her old friends who she recently got in touch with, Dave Kirwick. They've recently linked up through old friends—well Bunny. Bunny "ran into him" a couple weeks ago and brought him around the bar a few times last week, giving him and Erin the chance to "catch up." Erin doesn't care what Bunny's motives are nor is she reading into them. All she cares about is now she had someone to go down the dark rabbit hole with. It was easy with Dave, he didn't ask about her job or really anything about her personal life. Erin admired that about him, so it was a win-win in Erin's head.

"Hey you," he said as he took a seat next to Erin.

Looking at the bartender, Erin ordered another round of drinks, "Four more shots and two Budweisers."

Dave, taking notice to her slight buzz, began clapping his hands. "Erin Lindsay, getting toasty before noon! Now this is a party."

"Shut up," she said teasingly. "It's noon somewhere, right? Too cliché? I don't even care."

"That's what I like so much about you," Dave began, "you just don't give a shit."

Erin, slightly offended yet slightly pleased with the comment, didn't respond. She just downed her next two shots and began working on her next beer.

A few hours passed by. After taking a few more shots and continual beer drinking, Erin was pretty inebriated. A feeling she felt very comfortable with. Numbness. Coldness. Nothingness. It was her paradise. She was playing pool with Dave and at this point in the day the bar was filled with more people—some bikers, a couple businessmen, and a younger crowd of 20-somethings.

Fairly drunk, Erin looked over at Dave and managed to slur the words, "Let's get out of here, there is just _waaayy_ too many people here."

Dave, without any objection replied, "About time, girl. We've been here for like four hours. Want to go back to my apartment?"

"Yes." Erin stated.

"Ok, we need to make one stop though, it's on the way." He replied.

"Wuhevver." She slurred back.

Dave opened the car door for Erin as she got in the passenger's seat of his car, in a pretty sloppy manner. He closed the door behind him then got in the driver's seat. He put his seatbelt on then grabbed for his phone from his back pocket. "I got to make one call, then we're out."

"What kind of call," Erin asked, grinning ear to ear.

As he had the phone put up to his ear, he flashed back a smile at Erin and said, "You know what kind of call."

* * *

Next chapter to come soon! Reviews, reviews, reviews!


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys! Sorry it has been so long since the last update, this month got crazy busy.

Enjoy this chapter! Leave a review

* * *

"Hey Ronnie, it's me, Dave. Yeah. Double up this time. 10 minutes? Ok, see you soon." Dave hung up the phone and put it on his dashboard. He let out a little celebratory yelp.

"Ronnie? Who is Ronnie?" Erin questioned.

"My new boy… Chet from the neighborhood linked me up with him. He's pretty reliable and always has stuff on him." Dave responded.

"Since when do you buy from someone you just met?" Erin questioned again.

"I didn't just meet him. Chet gave me his contact info a few weeks back." Dave began to get a little defensive. "He is the one that's been supplying us with all this fun."

"And that doesn't concern you?" Erin challenged.

"Why would it concern me? Why are you being like this? We are having fun, _right?_ " Dave responded.

"Being like what? Smart?" Erin replied.

"No, you are trying to kill my buzz. No, you are killing my buzz. What's wrong with Ronnie?" Now Dave was getting more defensive.

"Nothing, I don't know Ronnie. But I'll be staying in the car."

"Fine, whatever, no one asked you to come in with me."

"Fine. Did you order enough?"

"Don't you worry. I got you."

"Good."

"Damn you get cranky when you fiend." He said as he cracked a smile.

"I'm not fiending." Now Erin was getting defensive.

"Fiend." Dave said with an even bigger smile.

Erin rolled her eyes. "Just drive."

* * *

"Okay, so I'll be back. Any way you can contribute to our night?" Dave questioned.

Erin looked at him for a second, then reached into her pocket and slapped him two twenty dollar bills.

Dave put the money in his back pocket and rubbed Erin's left shoulder. "Thanks. I should be right out."

"Yeah, hurry," she demanded.

"Cranky and bossy," Dave said with a smile before leaving the car.

As Dave was inside Erin grew restless. She decided to turn on her phone for the first time all day to see what the damage was. Six text messages and 3 missed calls.

 **Missed Calls**

 _Jay (2)_

 _Hank (1)_

 **Text Messages**

 _Hank_ : Erin call me

 _Hank_ : Erin where are you?

 _Hank_ : You need to call me

 _Platt_ : I am sorry if I crossed any boundaries today. I am just worried. Call me kid.

 _Jay_ : Hey

 _Jay_ : Call me, would you?

Erin sighed and decided that turning on her phone wasn't a good idea. She decided to forget she did it and turned it right back off. Just in time for Dave to be back from inside of this new guy Ronnie's house.

Dave hopped in the car and put on his seatbelt.

"Well?" Erin questioned.

"Well? Well what?"

"Did you get it?"

"Of course," he responded by flashing a big grin her way. "Ready to get hhhiiiiiggggghh?" he was obviously excited.

Erin let out a giggle and said, "Just drive, would ya?"

Dave turned the car on and put it in drive. "Let's get out of here!"

* * *

"Do you have any beer?" Erin questioned as they got into his apartment.

"Yeah, grab me one. Oh and grab me a straw," Dave responded. Dave got comfortable on his couch. He pulled out two five dollar bills he had on him and broke the small pill he had in half. He put on half on one bill and the other half on the other bill and crushed both up. They always started with half, then went on to another half, and so on and so forth. "We are starting our night early," Dave said, "see what happens when you get all day drunk."

Erin was in the kitchen, barely listening to Dave. His apartment wasn't bad. It was in a good part of the city and it was pretty big. He didn't have any roommates, just a couple cats. Hardwood floors in the living room and a pretty spacious tiled kitchen. He had a hallway that lead down to the bathroom and his bedroom. They spent most their time in his living room. It was such a guy's apartment. A nice big sectional and a huge flat screen TV. He had a sliding glass door that led out to a decent size balcony. There weren't many decorations but he had some style to it like a nice large area rug and a huge wooden coffee table that he had painted. It was home to his big glass bong, a few clear bowls, a grinder, and what he deemed his "weed tray" which was always filled with weed and rolling papers. He had a fake tall plant in the corner and black out curtains that were nailed to the wall. He didn't bother with curtain rods. Erin felt at home here. She grabbed two beers out of the fridge then opened the freezer. She saw a bottle of Patron and decided to grab that, too. She went to grab the straws and two shot glasses. She made her way over to the couch and kicked off her shoes before sitting down next to Dave, arms full.

"You found my Patron awfully quick."

"It wasn't that hard," Erin responded by sticking out her tongue.

"Pour 'em up," he said with a smile.

They both took a shot and then Dave snorted half of the pill he just crushed up. He sniffed hard and kept sniffing a few seconds after. He let out a little "woo" after he was all done snorting. He handed the other bill to Erin and gave her the straw.

Without thinking twice Erin took her bump.

* * *

What are you still doing here? Trudy asked as she made her way in Hank's office. It was around 9:00 pm by now.

"Just thinking," he responded, "Why are you still here?"

"About Erin?"

"Yeah. "

"Yeah," she responded, "I tried texting her."

"Yeah? Did she respond?" Hank felt a quick rush of excitement.

"Stupid question. She seemed strung out, Hank."

"That's not acceptable," Hank grew sad again.

"I didn't mean to cross any lines or boundaries," Trudy stated.

"Trudy—no stop. Erin is acting like a child," he interrupted Trudy before she could continue to beat herself up.

"Hank this is bigger than either one of us."

"I know."

"So what are we going to do?"

Hank did his signature move. He took his thumb and scratched above his eyebrow, "I don't know."

"Well, I doubt I will hear from her tonight but I thought you should know that I did try reaching out to her."

"Thanks Trudy," he began, "you shouldn't have done that; not after she was so rude to you, she doesn't deserve your kindness."

"Well, she is struggling. I am not taking it personally." Trudy has known Erin for a long time. She really wasn't offended by their interaction, just worried. She heard Erin get sick but she politely waited until the coast was clear to approach her. She didn't want to embarrass her, either. She was being very careful with the situation. Obviously not careful enough because she didn't get the outcome she was looking for.

"Good. Because you know she loves you," Hank half smiled.

"I think I might have pushed her."

"Quite frankly, that's what she needs. A push in the ass."

They both cracked small smiles.

"Hey," Hank began as he opened his desk drawer, taking out two paper cups and a small bottle of whiskey he has been hanging on to, "let's have a drink."

"Good idea," Trudy said.

* * *

So—do you like the direction of this story? WHO IS DAVE? WHO IS RONNIE? Review with comments, criticism, and suggestions. I will be updating the next chapter shortly. Again, sorry for taking so long! HOW GOOD WAS THE PREMIERE? Linstead is just BAE.


	4. Chapter 4

_Buzz, buzz, buzz_. Erin's phone was buzzing on Dave's coffee table. _Buzz, buzz, buzz_. Erin woke up, coughing up smoke from last night and her head was panging. The word throb didn't do the feeling justice. It was panging. Erin recollected herself and grabbed her phone and squinted hard, regretting that she ever turned her phone back on last night, as she looked at who was calling her. Hank. 'Of course,' she thought to herself. It was too late for her to accept, or in her case decline, the call but as the phone went to her home screen she saw the time. 10:03. Shit. She wasn't just kind of late; she was really late this morning. She had skipped work yesterday but cleared it with Hank through text message yesterday morning. This morning, however, she didn't plan to skip. She had a few things that were nagging at her back at the office. This case they were working on was hard. She had nothing for Hank. She got up with all her CIs yesterday morning before surrendering the day and going to the bar. She really did try; at least that's what she told herself anyway.

Her little vacation day was over and she was sad about it. She looked over at Dave who was passed out on the other side of the sectional without his shirt on and half a blanket half covering him. She thought to herself how lucky Dave was that he didn't have to get up right now. He made his money off selling weed and tended some bar across town when things got tight with his business. She was almost tempted to go back to sleep, too. She even considered going into Dave's bed. He had a king size bed and like a million thread count sheets. She looked around the room from the couch. She can't piece together how they fell asleep last night. She remembers taking a few more bumps and a couple more shots and that's all her memory had for her. Judging by how she felt and how little she remembered, she must have had a very fun time. She looked down and noticed she was just wearing her bra and underwear. She wasn't even sure if they had sex last night. She took one last look of envy at Dave sleeping, and decided to make an attempt to get up.

With much courage and strength, Erin managed to get up and clothe herself. She pet Dave's cat for a brief second before leaving, his one cat always hung out near the front door of his apartment. She recalls arguing with him once about it, "He is a tomcat and obviously wants to be outside where you found him" she remembers saying. "No he loves it here," Dave retorted.

* * *

Erin parked her car outside the precinct and flipped down her mirror. She looked like hell this morning. She barely had time to do anything this morning. She threw a piece of gum in her mouth and got out of her car. As she was walking toward the building she thought to herself, 'I hope Platt is on her morning break.'

Lucky for her, she was, and it was someone else at the front. She took off her sunglasses and headed upstairs, large coffee in hand.

"So, Antonio got something," Hank announced the team upstairs in the bullpen. "He is on his way back now with more details but one of his CIs has some information that can help us find the man in charge of the drugs." Earlier in the week, local drug agents seized over $600,000 worth of cocaine from a commercial vehicle traveling on Interstate 90. The commander gave this case over to Hank because the details required intelligence. Police found a whole lot more in the truck, like a black metal BB pistol and a lot of cash distributed in manila folders. They busted the driver but as everyone knew, the driver wasn't the guy they were after. They were after a much larger fish. The man driving the truck was booked, but after extensive questioning, no answers were found that could lead to the bigger man. Hank still believes the driver is lying. Hank decided that once he makes bail, then he will go after him, but until then his hands were tied.

"Anything useful?" Ruzek asked.

"We will see," Hank responded, "Anyone have anything else? Jay?"

As Hank was questioning Jay, the team heard somebody come up the stairs.

Erin came upstairs and mumbled, "Sorry I'm late, got caught up." She sat down at her desk and looked at Jay who was studying her and then he looked back at Hank.

"No, sir. I got up with a lot of my CIs and nothing that can lead to this guy," he responded half-heartedly.

"Well get up with _all_ your CIs by this morning," he looked a Jay then back at the rest of the team. "Let's catch this son of a bitch." He looked at Erin who was obviously avoiding his eye contact as if her life depended on it. He went over to her desk and tapped his fingers loudly. "Get up," he demanded with a whisper.

Erin slowly got up and looked at Jay again, then followed Voight into his office where he was leaning against the back of his office wall. "Close the door," he said as he pointed at the door with fury.

"Listen, Hank, I got caught up with a CI and-" she began as she was closing the door but was quickly interrupted.

"You take the day off yesterday to do God knows what and now you are stumbling up the stairs nearly 2 hours late, during, what I've said countless times now, is a very important case. I don't even want you to finish your excuse because it's just going to piss me off," he said with surprising composure.

"It's not an excuse, Hank," she retorted.

"I can't keep doing this Erin," he seemed sad now. "I can't keep worrying about you."

"You don't need to. Really. There is nothing to worry about."

"Then why do you smell like you just crossed the Mexican border? Why do you look so tired?"

"Jesus, Hank," now she was getting wound up. "Thanks for telling me I smell like the Mexican border, but any way, I'm tired because I couldn't sleep last night and I'm getting a really bad cold!"

"I said you smell like you just _crossed_ the Mexican border," he corrected he now stood up straight. "Look, all those reasons sound like piss poor excuses."

"Well, I truly am sorry that you think they are piss poor excuses but I am telling the truth," Erin began to worry in her head. Was Hank really on to her? Who else was on to her? She felt like maybe the party was over. They stood there in silence for the next few seconds until Hank spoke up again.

"I'm sorry, too," he said. "I just really need you." Now Hank began to think he was blowing this out of proportion. Maybe Erin wasn't in as bad a shape as he thought. Maybe he wasn't giving her the benefit of the doubt.

"I'm here," she said, "and I am sorry I have no hits on this case. I'm actually pretty frustrated about it. My CIs were no help. I was with them all yesterday trying to crack this." Erin mastered lying at a young age, and it's a talent that sort of never left her, especially when it comes to covering up her tracks. Bunny may have been a shitty mother, but she learned how to not make such horrible excuses, since Bunny made them all her life. "I just didn't want to be at work and be defeated. Not now, anyway. And this morning I just honestly slept in. I was so exhausted last night and fell asleep on my couch. I know that's unacceptable but really I was-I am exhausted. But I'm here _now._ "

"Why did Trudy say you were strung out? He questioned randomly.

"What? When did Trudy say I was strung out?" Now she was getting heated. Who the hell was Trudy to say that sort of thing to Hank. Was Trudy on to her too? "She had no business saying such a thing to you."

"She's worried about you."

"Well, she doesn't have to be. Nor do you. I promise," now Erin was almost convincing herself that everything was fine. She gulped down the last of her coffee then spoke up again, more calm, "look I have a lot of work to do. I am sorry you were worried yesterday and this morning but this is just a big misunderstanding. I need to get more coffee and buckle down on my files."

"Okay," Hank caved. He looked out his office and saw Antonio standing near the board. "First, let's go see what Antonio has. He called me from the road with something that can help."

"You got it, boss," she said with a half-smile.

"What do you have?" Hank asked Dawson as he walked out of his office, Erin following closely behind.

Erin was so tempted to walk to the kitchen and fill up her coffee cup, not listen to Antonio's lead. Why is she so irritable? She looked at Jay again who was looking at Antonio. She wondered if Dave was up yet and what he was doing, more specifically, would he finish all those pills? She did contribute money. She should get at least a couple more pills out of him. She was distracted, barely listening to what Antonio was telling the team.

"My CI from a few years back said she knows someone who owns a diner near the truck stop who can help with this. She said this woman has been complaining to her about management and all this sketchy business that's been going down lately. This woman is really worried she is going to become a part of it and confided in her friend. She doesn't want any trouble."

"Great," Hank said. "Did you get a name on the waitress?"

"A Nancy Kirwick." Dawson stated. I am meeting with her this afternoon.

Erin's attention flew forth and her stomach dropped. She knew that woman. Her stomach still felt like it was dropping.

"Nancy Kirwick?" Hank confirmed.

"Yep," Dawson continued, "I've never met her, but she is willing to sit down with me today. We are meeting in Millennium Park."

"What's the name of her diner?" Hank questioned.

"Jim's Truck Stop- great name right?" He said sarcastically. "Anyway, this could be something."

"Definitely, let me know how that goes." Hank responded.

Erin probably looked pale because she really was going to be sick. Hank was studying her as she put her hand over her mouth. She turned around quickly and headed downstairs to the bathroom. ' _I should have just hopped into Dave's bed this morning_ ' she thought to herself.

Hank watched Erin go downstairs. He then went back to his office. He needed to do some research. The name Nancy Kirwick and now hearing the name of the truck stop and diner, it all sounded way too familiar.

* * *

Sooooo, what do you guys think?! Any guesses? I am already into the next chapter so maybe I will upload another one later. Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	5. Chapter 5

Hank sat down at his desk and began giving the name Nancy Kirwick and Jim's Truck Stop a second thought. He knew the diner because he has been there before a while back. He was going through his memories, why was he there? And then he thought of Bunny. Ah, yes, Bunny. He now remembered it like it was yesterday—but it wasn't, it was nearly 16 years ago. He began to remember Nancy, too. Nancy and Bunny knew each other; well they hated each other actually.

They used to work together before Nancy met Eddie, who owned the truck stop and diner. Eddie convinced Nancy to be a waitress at his diner and she obliged. Bunny, however, wasn't too happy about this. Eddie was Bunny's dealer, so Nancy had something for Bunny every day at work. She was so used to the convenience, that when it was ripped away from her she threw a hissy fit. Jim's was all the way across town and Bunny knew she wouldn't be able to make it there every day. She was at a point in her habit where she was picking up every day. She used her tip money to buy, so she had to buy every day. No dealer was willing to front Bunny, which was smart for business, but it made things difficult for Bunny. She knew she would find a new dealer but she didn't have time for that.

One night after her shift, Bunny was so desperate for a fix that she was willing to make the trek over to Jim's to see Eddie. When she got there, Nancy wasn't there, it was just Eddie. Things got hazy but Bunny had slept with Eddie that night. Nancy walked in on them—she was coming to see Eddie after she had dinner with her son and daughter, Dave and Jane. Eddie basically kicked Bunny off of his bed and told her to get out. She never got her fix either.

Needless to say, things got out of hand. Soon after this incident Bunny used Hank to get revenge on them both. She had ratted Eddie out to Voight, but somehow Nancy got word of it and they cleaned shop before anything happened. Bunny swore it was a misunderstanding but Hank just saw it as a big waste of time. He said something along the lines of, 'don't you dare use me or this department to help with your personal vendettas.'

All of this was rushing back to Hank. He began to wonder if Eddie was still around. He had no idea if Eddie was big time then and has no idea how much more big time he has gotten. This could be a solid lead for this case. He quickly got up and went out to find Antonio.

"Dawson," he yelled from a few feet outside of his office, "Come here for a minute."

"Yeah, what's going on?" He questioned as he walk toward Hank.

Hank motioned him to come in his office. "I know Nancy, I forgot I was involved with her and her at-the-time boyfriend Eddie. Let me go out there and talk to her."

"Yeah, sure. If you think talking to her will get us better information then go for it. Let me just give her a quick call and—" he was interrupted.

"Don't call her," he instructed. "What time again?"

"Millennium Park. 11:30."

He looked down at his watch. 10:37. "Great."

* * *

Erin finished puking all of last night's contents but this time she used a different bathroom far away from their locker room, it was a farther walk especially when she was mid vomit, but decided it was worth it. She didn't want Platt, or anyone else for that matter, to hear her throw up. They might get the wrong idea and go to Hank, she thought to herself. She was seriously resenting Trudy right now. For all she knew Erin could have really been ill that morning. Granted, she was right Erin was extremely hungover that morning, but still, that doesn't give her right to go get Hank all excited. She went to the sink and threw some cold water on her face. Last night's drugs were slowly leaving her system and she felt miserable. She also couldn't stop thinking about Dave and not in a good way, in a desperate "did he leave me a pill!?" way. She wiped off the water with a paper towel and pulled out her phone from her back pocket. She decided to just call Dave and demand that he save her a pill for when she gets a chance to slip away from work. Maybe lunch time, she thought to herself with excitement.

"Hey you," Erin said in the phone.

"Hey," Dave responded groggily. "How's work? You coming back over?"

Erin was relieved. "Yes. Actually I am going to try and sneak out here in a little bit for lunch."

"Sneak out? What are you sixteen?"

"These days, it sure feels like it," Erin responded.

"What you mean?" Dave questioned through the phone.

"Ah, nevermind. Look you still have some stuff right?"

"Of course. I'll even wait for you if you can get here by noon."

Erin was certain she could manage that. "See you sooner than that," she responded with a smile while ending the phone call. She put her phone back in her back pocket and turned back to the sink. She washed her hands and dried them. She decided to go back upstairs before leaving for lunch, just to give Hank peace of mind.

As she was heading back to the bullpen looking down at her phone, she ran into Jay.

"Hey," he said as he put his hands out on her shoulders to balance her from their bump in. "You okay?"

Erin looked up at Jay. His eyes were so magnetic and blue, his face painted with freckles. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She asked somewhat defensive.

"Oh, it's just you looked sick upstairs," he began, "I was hoping you were feeling okay."

"Yeah, you know I'm coming down with something. It's sort of a cold but my stomach kind of hurts and yeah, it's nothing, really." She said to him, still holding eye contact. Holding eye contact with Jay was comfortable and never awkward. They communicate a lot with just their eyes. Their nonverbal chemistry was palpable.

"That's no good," he said, "Well, I know I really good place just a couple blocks down that has killer chicken noodle soup. You interested?"

Erin gave thought to that idea for a brief second before recalling her plans to go meet Dave. "That sounds good, but I think I'm going to pass."

Still eyeing each other as if they were having a contest, Jay asked again, "You sure you okay?"

Erin surrendered her eye contact and shifted her eyes to the floor then back up at Jay again. "Yeah, I'll be fine," she managed to flash him her smile. The kind that came with dimples, which made Jay melt.

He quickly shifted the conversation, "I tried calling you a few times yesterday."

"Yeah, my phone has been acting all screwy and I was frustrated with this case. My CIs were annoying me," she said.

Jay nodded at Erin, as if he was confirming that she sold him on her lies but knew she was lying. He decided not to challenge her anymore and gave her a half smile and said before walking away, "Call me if you change your mind about soup. I can always pick you up one to-go."

"Thanks." Erin watched Jay walk away. She felt like she was frozen in time but quickly snapped back to reality when she became in tune with the busy surroundings of the downstairs. She looked around and made her way back upstairs.

* * *

When she came upstairs, the whole team, minus Jay, were all hard at work. She peered into Hank's office and saw him sitting down. She looked at her watch. 11:08. She decided she would leave at 11:15 for her lunch, or as Dave referred to it, her "rendezvous." She was so distracted. She kept looking around upstairs until she heard Hank get up. She quickly fixated back at her desk and pretended to be buried into a file when Hank announced to the team that he was going to see Nancy and asked Dawson to come just in case. Phewf, she thought to herself as they left, finally.

As she was making her way downstairs, she saw Jay standing outside talking to Dawson and Voight. Shit. Why aren't they leaving and why isn't Jay getting his soup? This was messing up her plans to leave the district without anyone questioning, or as Erin viewed it interrogating, her as to where she was headed. Lying was exhausting and annoying. Luckily, the men dispersed and Erin made her way to her car without anyone asking her anything.

* * *

"What have you been doing all morning?" Erin was back at Dave's apartment, sitting in the same spot of the sectional that she was earlier this morning. They were sharing a joint that Dave had rolled before Erin got there.

"Nothing much. A couple people stopped by. I puked a few times."

Erin let out a small laugh."So," she began with caution, "have you seen your mom lately?"

Dave, surprised by the questioned coughed on his pull, looking at Erin with confusion and defensiveness as he asked, "Why are you asking me about my mom?"

"Just wondering."

"No, you don't just wonder about my mom."

"I can wonder about your mom. I've met her before. She's a nice lady."

"Erin."

"What?"

Dave wasn't dumb and it was his job to be suspicious. "Why do you want to know about my mom?"

"Why is it such a big deal that I know about your mom?"

"It just is."

Erin exhaled out loudly and decided that Dave needed to know what was going on. I mean Erin's reputation was sort of at stake, too. How often does Dave and his mother talk? Are they close? Does his mom know how much time the two of them have been spending together? She was genuinely concerned. She wasn't worried about Dave's reaction because he has a lot at stake, too. "Your Mom is with Hank Voight right now."

Dave hated that name. Hank Voight. Voight has tried to put Dave away once before back when Erin used to run with him. Dave never treated Erin badly but he was always such a bad influence on her. When Hank and Camille heard that name, they cringed. They wanted them to stay far apart from each other. One, because he was a bad influence and two, they knew about his mother and Bunny's issues. They didn't want Erin to be stuck in the middle of anything. But Erin always gravitated to Dave when things got difficult at the Voights.

As per usual, Dave reacted. "What? Why? What are they discussing? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Calm down," Erin took the joint from him and took a hit, "I just found out this morning. One of my coworker's CIs knows your mom and she may have some info about this case we are trying to crack." She exhaled the smoke in his face. She knew how much he hated it.

"What do they want with my mom?" he questioned sternly while waving the smoke with his hand.

"Don't worry," Erin continued after another pull of the joint. "Just tell me she doesn't know we've been hanging out and everything will be okay."

"I haven't." Dave stated while taking the joint from her. "Enough of this." He put the joint out and took out two pills this time. "We each deserve one, not a half."

He did his usual—took out two bills, he called them pill plates. Erin always questioned why he did that. "You want every last bit of powder, right?" she remembers him teaching her one time long ago after an especially bad day at St. Ignacious.

He handed Erin one bill and took the other while picking up the straw from the coffee table. In normal fashion, he did his bump then handed the straw to Erin.

* * *

As I said in the summary, this is ultimately Linstead. However, I am very intrigued by Erin's back story... especially her past with Voight. I am leading up to good Linstead material though... I PROMISE.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Reviewssssssss!


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